Drivers warn McLaren to fix backwards slide

"We still came away with some points but we need to react fast," British newspapers quoted Hamilton as saying after getting a bad start and finishing in the train behind winner Mark Webber.

"The team have definitely got some work to do because we are falling behind race by race," he said.

The 2008 world champion has been much happier than in his calamitous campaign last year, but he is at risk of growing frustrated that he has not been among F1's record six different winners so far in 2012.

"I just don't understand why the two guys next to me and the guy behind me got perfect starts. I don't know what my team was up to there.

"And I don't know how long my pitstop was but I lost quite a lot of time," said Hamilton.

He also complained publicly about not being told on the radio to push a bit harder to keep Sebastian Vettel behind him in the round of pitstops.

"You should have kept me updated," he moaned into the radio.

Hamilton then told reporters: "I didn't have the information to say 'Sebastian is going to get you'. I could easily have pushed."

Faring even worse in qualifying, the races and subsequently in the championship recently has been teammate Jenson Button, who has gone backwards since winning the Melbourne season opener.

"It's my leanest period since the old Honda days, but s**t happens," he said late on Sunday.

Button's race ended in frustration after he crashed with Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen.

"We were so far behind getting points that I couldn't wait for the race to be over. At least I didn't have to do the last eight laps.

"That's one way of looking at it so I didn't need to feel pain for even longer," said the 2009 world champion.

(GMM)

Vettel denies signing Ferrari deal

Sebastian Vettel has denied reports he has signed a 'pre-contract' to move to Ferrari in 2014.

Two British Sunday newspapers reported the rumour just ahead of the Monaco GP.

"Maybe they needed to fill up some space in their newspapers," the reigning world champion, who remains under contract to Red Bull for the foreseeable future, told the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung in Monaco.

"I have signed nothing," the 24-year-old German insisted.

As for why he was the only missing team member when Red Bull celebrated Mark Webber's Monaco victory by leaping into Red Bull's harbour pool, Vettel answered: "I didn't want a swim.

No protest but Red Bull floor still on F1 radar

Talk of a post-race protest faded in the Monaco rain late on Sunday, as Mark Webber's race win was formalised by the governing FIA.

It had been reported that Red Bull's top rivals Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes were unhappy with a hole or slot in the floor just ahead of the rear wheels of Adrian Newey's RB8.

Webber won the race and Red Bull soared to a 38 point lead in the constructors' championship in Monaco, amid a flurry of rumours that a protest was on.

"It's not new in F1 to see teams complaining when we have a competitive car," insisted the team's Christian Horner.

Sky's pitlane pundit Ted Kravitz spotted McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh walking with sporting director Sam Michael and technical boss Paddy Lowe as they returned apparently from the stewards just after the race.

But Whitmarsh grinned that the trio had simply enjoyed a post-race "walk".

Rumours then filled the Principality's paddock that it was Ferrari that would lodge the protest.

It is believed a compromise solution was reached when it was agreed the issue would be discussed during the sport's high profile meeting in Monaco on Monday.

"The issue must be resolved soon," Whitmarsh is quoted as saying.

(GMM)

Mercedes not ruling out team orders

With Michael Schumacher succumbing to yet more bad luck, Mercedes is not ruling out team orders.

The seven-time world champion's pole celebrations in Monaco became just sixth on the grid due to the Barcelona grid penalty, and he had to retire from the race with a fuel pressure problem.

"I've never seen such bad luck as Michael is having," triple world champion Niki Lauda told Bild newspaper.

Indeed, he still has just 2 points in the bag after displaying solid performance so far in 2012 after six races.

Teammate Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, is right in the hunt, just 17 points off the championship lead with his tally of 59 points and another podium on Sunday.

So, with almost a third of the season now gone and Schumacher so far behind, what will Mercedes do if Schumacher is ahead of Rosberg in the points in the near future?

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Norbert Haug is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

"I don't think we would give any orders. But I also think that our drivers know what to do."

Ferrari's Stefano Domenicali was also asked about team orders on Sunday, including why the team didn't time one of Felipe Massa's pitstops in order to boost Fernando Alonso's victory chances by delaying his rivals behind the Brazilian.

"If we had done that," the Italian argued, "we could have ruined Felipe's race and he has been strong all weekend.

"The most important thing for him now is to build his confidence back up."

(GMM)

Lotus remains race favourite for Canada - Alguersuari

Yet another weekend has passed in which the pre-race favourite, Lotus, failed to deliver.

But Jaime Alguersuari thinks the Enstone-based team remains poised to shine in the very near future.

"From my point of view, I still believe that they have the most competitive package, both mechanically and aerodynamically," said the former Toro Rosso driver.

"They have great traction and very little degradation of the rear tyres. It is unfortunate that here they were not able to get the most from it but you will see again in Canada they will again be the favourites," the Spaniard told the AS sports daily in Monaco.

Behind garage doors, however, confusion still reigns.

Red Bull became the sport's only multiple-race winner of the 2012 season so far with Mark Webber's Monaco breakthrough.

But team manager Jonathan Wheatley used the word "lottery" to explain how races are being won and lost.

"On Thursday we thought ninth or tenth would be our maximum," he is quoted by Der Spiegel.

"Lotus with Romain Grosjean looked over a second quicker than the rest."

Flavio Briatore said teams will be needing to take a 'long game' approach to the championship, with championship leader Fernando Alonso the favourite in his view.

"If the lottery continues, it will be best to cope with it by having the most tickets in your pocket," the former Renault team boss told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"And that's Alonso."

(GMM)

Alguersuari not denying Force India rumour

Jaime Alguersuari has refused to confirm or deny speculation he might be first in line should Force India have a driver vacancy for 2013.

El Mundo Deportivo, the Spanish newspaper the former Toro Rosso driver now writes a column for, mentioned that the Force India rumour had circulated in the Monte Carlo paddock at the weekend.

When posed to Alguersuari, the 22-year-old answered: "I have said that I will be in the world championship in 2013, but I did not say where and I will not tell you now."

Force India 2012 driver's Paul di Resta has been linked with moves to top teams Mercedes or Ferrari.

Alguersuari continued: "As of June, all sorts of rumours start going around in formula one, but they are just that - rumours."

(GMM)

Force India skipped Bahrain practice for publicity - Ecclestone

There was an element of publicity in Force India's decision to sit out a practice session in Bahrain last month, Bernie Ecclestone has charged.

The F1 chief executive had already denied the Silverstone based team was deliberately ignored by F1's television cameras in qualifying, a day after Force India skipped practice due to security fears.

"The protesters weren't there to attack anybody," Ecclestone told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt over lunch in London recently.

"They were going to use the event to demonstrate and get their word out."

He revealed that, when Force India expressed fears about travelling in Bahrain at night, he offered to accompany the team members without security personnel.

"We will drop you and I will come back alone in the car again with no escort," Ecclestone said, recalling his conversation with the Silverstone based team.

In contrast, he said he "wouldn't have wanted to go into those streets when we had the problems in London" last year.

"Force India wanted people to write about them," the 81-year-old charged.